U.S. House committee reaches deal for testimony by Trump Afghan envoy

U.S. President Donald Trump's top negotiator for Afghanistan will hold a briefing for the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, the panel said on Wednesday, after the committee subpoenaed him in frustration at his refusal to meet with its members.

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China signals veto in standoff with U.S. over Afghanistan U.N. mission: diplomats

China and the United States are deadlocked over a U.N. Security Council resolution to extend the world body's political mission in Afghanistan, with Beijing signalling it will cast a veto because there is no reference to its global Belt and Road infrastructure project, diplomats said on Monday.

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Trump gets update from aides on Afghan peace plan with troop pullout possible

President Donald Trump was briefed on Friday by top national security advisers on the status of negotiations with the Taliban on a U.S. troop pullout from Afghanistan and the potential for a political settlement between the warring sides.

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Uniqlo to close a Seoul store on anti-Japan boycotts - report

Japanese casual clothing chain Uniqlo plans to close a store in central Seoul, hurt by South Korean consumer boycotts amid a mounting dispute between the two countries, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday.

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Chinese and North Korean leaders agree to strengthen bilateral ties - KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that amid "serious and complicated" international affairs, developing North Korea and China's relationship is good for both countries and regional peace, North Korean state media said on Friday.

from Reuters: South Asia News https://reut.rs/2ZHoMs9

Bank of Korea chief: global conditions have changed drastically

The head of South Korea's central bank said on Thursday global economic conditions have changed very drastically since its last meeting in May and that the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting was dovish.

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BOJ seen holding fire, Kuroda may offer dovish signal post-Fed

The Bank of Japan is widely expected to keep its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged on Thursday but signal its readiness to ramp up stimulus if global risks threaten the country's economic expansion, nodding to the widening fallout from the U.S.-China trade war.

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China trip and son's wedding: Sri Lanka leader denounced after Easter bombings

After coming under fire for not acting on warnings about Easter bombings that killed more than 250 people, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena is now facing criticism over his leadership in the aftermath of the Islamist attacks.

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Afghan working women still face perils at home and office

Minutes before Mena Mangal, a prominent Afghan journalist and parliamentary adviser, was shot dead by two men in Kabul, she had slammed the door of her parent's home after reminding them to pay the neighbourhood shopkeeper 15 Afghanis (20 cents).

from Reuters: South Asia News https://reut.rs/2WfZBPg

U.N. blacklists founder of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed

A U.N. Security Council committee blacklisted the head of the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) on Wednesday after China dropped its objection to the move, ending a decade-long diplomatic impasse.

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U.S. and Taliban resume talks as Kabul seeks role in peace process

American and Taliban officials resumed talks in Qatar on Wednesday aimed at ending a 17-year war in Afghanistan, while the Afghan government hosted a rare assembly in Kabul to ensure its interests are upheld in any peace deal.

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Leave my country alone, Sri Lanka president tells Islamic State

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said a foreign mastermind may have planned the Easter Sunday bombings, claimed by Islamic State, telling the militant group to "leave my country alone".

from Reuters: South Asia News https://reut.rs/2DCLIQn

U.S. military stops tracking key metric on Afghan war as situation deteriorates

The U.S. military has stopped tracking the amount of territory controlled or influenced by the Afghan government and militants, a U.S. watchdog said on Tuesday, one of the last remaining public metrics that tracked the worsening security situation in the war-torn country.

from Reuters: South Asia News https://reut.rs/2ZVPhLk